Detachable safety pocket flap



March 20, 1951 Filed Jan. 31, 1949 FIG. I.

E. L. BERMAN ET AL DETACHABLE SAFETY POCKET FLAP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

E. L. BERMAN ET AL DETACHABLE SAFETY POCKET FLAP March 20, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1949 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 20, 1951 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DETACHABLE SAFETY POCKET FLAP Elsie L. Berman and Oscar A. Berman, New York, N. Y.

Application January 31, 1949, Serial No. 73,824

6 Claims.

as we proceed to describe our invention.

For certain types of garments, particularly .womens wear, it is desirable to have detachable collars whereby with one basic garment many style changes may be had simply by changing the form or design of the collar, thus saving the wearer the cost of a number of complete garments merely to secure a variety of necklines,

collar formation, revers, etc.

For certain other garments, particularly those intended for nurses, maids, beauticians, waitresses, etc., detachable collars are particularly desirable from the standpoint of cleanliness because collars are usually the first part of a garment to become soiled.

However, changing the collar of a garment may make a corresponding change in the pocket flaps practically compulsory from a style standpoint, otherwise the beauty and attractiveness of the style may be lost and a very incongruous combination may result.

To avoid such an undesirable result and to promote the sale of more garments to more people with more profit to manufacturers and re,-

itailers and with greater satisfaction to wearers,

it is highly desirable that pocket flaps on such garments be detachable and replaceable with other flaps of designs corresponding to the various collar types that may be used; or, if collars are changed merely for sanitary reasons, fresh, clean pocket flaps may be applied to the garment at the same time; or, the same pocket flaps may be reversed to hide the soiled side or face, and expose the clean side or face of the flaps previously used.

There are many other reasons Why detachable pocket flaps are desirable. For instance, a monogram or a professional insignia or a new or conventional but individualized decorative design is a frequent fashion touch on womens dresses,

blouses, robes,- uniforms and other apparel.

, One impediment to manufacturers and retailersiin selling garments intended to carry indiyidualized monograms, insignia, decorative designs, etc., has been the fact that few retail stores are equipped with the necessary machines for applying specially embroidered designs. This necessitates sending garments back after sale in stores, to the original manufacturer for application of the desired design somewhere on the body of the garment, or sending garments out to service concerns specializing in such work.

However, in either case there is more or less dissatisfaction on the part of the purchaser because he or she is denied the use of the garment for the period. required to have the embroidering done. All this dissatisfaction is avoided, and

the sale of garments facilitated when the purchaser is assured that he or she may wear the garment and merely mail to the manufacturer a detachable pocket flap from the garment, or permit the retailer to do so, whereupon the individualized insignia or design will be applied to the pocket flap which will thereupon be mailed directly to the wearer for easy attachment to the pocket of the garment to which it belongs. To accomplish the aforesaid objects, and other objects some of which will appear from a reading of this specification and the appended claims, We have invented the detachable pocket flap herein illustrated and described.

For a fuller understanding of the advantages of our invention over any other detachable pocket flaps heretofore devised, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a womans garment embodying our invention.

. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the bodice of the same garment with the pocket removed.

. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the same bodice portion with the pocket attached.

Fig. 4. is a plan view of our pocket flap.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view of a pocket having fasteners thereon for receiving the fiap.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are plan views of other forms of flap F intended to show just a few of the many variations and modifications that can be made in the form of said flap.

Figs. 9 and 10 are vertical sectional views of the I pocket and garment with the flaps illustrated fasteners, bl, b2, and b3 are secured to the body of the garment and are transversely aligned at the pocket area. The buttons will be disposed adjacent to the open end of the pocket, which, as seen in Fig. 5, is provided on the inside facing with buttons b4, b5, and b6. The buttons on the inside facing lie adjacent to the buttons on the body of the garment and to avoid any tendency toward bulkiness, very thin buttons are used but the buttons would have flexural strength.

The flap Fl, in Fig. 4, is formed at one end.

with tabs, tl, t2, and t3 and buttonholes hl, b2, and 713 are formed in the tabs for cooperation with the buttons bl, b2, and b3 or b4, b or b8 in any number of variations to accomplish different objectives. A tab 134 is formed on the other end of the flap and is provided Witha buttonhole M, which cooperates with a buttonb'l on the outside of the pocket Pl.

If the wearer desired to have the safety feature apply at either edge of the pocket, leaving an opening for a handkerchief in the center, then buttonholes hl and 713 in tabs tl and 153 are made to cooperate with buttons bl and b3 on the body of the garment G, and button-hole b2 in tab t2 is made to cooperate with button D5 of the pocket facing. On the other hand, if the wearer desires to have the safety feature apply in the center of the pocket, leaving openings at either edge of the pocket for the insertion of a pen, pencil, thermometer or other object, then button-hole M in tab 252 is made to cooperate with button b2 on the body of the garment G, and button-holes hl and IL3 in tabs ti and 253 are made to cooperate with buttons b4 and D6 of the pocket facing.

Similarly, if the wearer desires to have the safety feature apply over the entire pocket, button-holes hl, 122- and M in tabs tl, t2 and t3 are all made to cooperate with buttons bl, b2 and b3 on the body of garment G. Likewise, if the wearer desires the entire pocket left open for easy access to the contents and without any safety feature, button-holes hl, M and M in tabs tl, t2 and 153 are all made to cooperate with buttons b4, b5 and be in pocket facing c.

To elucidate more in detail the flap Fl is formed of two layers of fabric folded together to form two faces, each layer of fabric having its each other whereby no raw edges are visible on either face of said flap, said layers of fabric being stitched together around the entire contour thereof, all as indicated'in Figs. 9 and 10. The contour is of irregular shape and forms two rectangular tabs fl and t3 and an extremity triangular tab 122 between said rectangular tabs ti and t3 at one extremity of said flap, and'a single triangular tap M, at the other extremity thereof. Each of said tabs has abutton-hole therein, the button-holes hl and b3 in said rectangular tabs being set horizontally with respect to the top of the pocket Pl to which said flap Fl is to be applied, the button-holes 71.2 and PM in said triangular tabs t2 and t4 being set vertically with respect to the top of the pocket to which said flap is to be applied. The rectangular tabs tl and t2 are adapted to fold inwardly over the top of said pocket PI and to be detachably affixed to cooperatively placed buttons bl and b3 permanently attached to the portion of the body of the garment G beneath said pocket, saidtriangular tab t2 formed between said rectangular tabs tl and 253 being adapted tofold inwardly over the top of said pocket PI and to be detachably aiiixed 4 to a cooperatively placed button b5 permanently attached to the inside upper portion of said pocket Pl, the portion of said flap beyond said rectangular and triangular tabs being adapted to fold outwardly over the opening of said pocket and downwardly toward the base thereof. The triangular tab 134 at the extremity of the foldeddown portion of said flap is adapted to be detachably afiixed to a cooperative button b1 permanently attached to the outside portion of said pocket Pl, all of said tabs, button-holes and cooperative buttons providing a detachable pocket flap whereby the contents of said pocket are safeguarded by the folded over rectangular tabs, and whereby a handkerchief or other object may be inserted or removed without the necessity of unbuttoning any part of said flap, and whereby said A flap may be reversed to conceal a soiled portion or to reveal or conceal a monogram applied to the fabric on one face of said flap. In Figs. 6 through 8, other flap formations are illustrated, the flaps F4, F5. and F6, differing from the flaps Fl, F2 and F3 and from each other with respect to the end tabs. In the flap F4, the outer tabs t5 and it are substantially square and the center tab t! is rectangular and larger in size. In the flap F5, the end tabs t8 and t9 are larger than the intermediate tab tlll. In Fig. 8, the end tabs ill and tl2 are elongated and have axial buttonholes, differing from the transverse buttonholes in the tabs of the other forms. The center tab H3 is enlarged and has a transverse buttonhole.

Fig. 1 shows three pockets Pl on the bodice, P2and P3 onthe skirt. While pocket Pl' is the one on which the detachable flap is customarily monogramed, P2 and P3.are shown to indicate-a fundamental style requirement that. all pocket flaps should be of the same design and all should harmonize with the basic design of the collar and cuffs. Fig. 1 shows a garment with pointed collar and cuffsso all pocket flaps should be pointed. If the collar and cuffs were rounded the pocket flaps would be rounded off to harmonize. Endless variations and modifications to meet individual whim or need may be made in the design of collars, cuffs and pocket flaps and we claim all such variations and modifications in the pocket flaps insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of our claims, although we show. only one basic design to elucidate our invention.

It should, therefore be understood that the particular embodiments of our invention disclosed herein are illustrative only, that our. invention isnot limited thereto, and that minor changes and variations in the material, integration of parts and location of elements may all be resorted to without departing from the spirit of our invention and the scope of our claims. For to others skilled in the art it will appear from our invention and disclosure that many variations and modifications may be made without copying the specific structure shown, therefore we claim all such variations and modifications insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of our appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination with a garment having a pocket formed thereon and provided with an open top, a detachable flap for said pocket including a single piece of material having a tab formed at one end and'a plurality of separate tabs formed at the opposing end, fasteners secured to the inside and outside of the pocket and secured to the garment transversely at the open top of the pocket, and means formed on said tabsfor co-v operative engagement with said fasteners whereby said tabs may be selectively affixed to the garment and pocket so that the flap overlies the open top of the pocket.

2. In combination with a garment having a pocket formed thereon and provided with an open top, a detachable flap for said pocket including a single piece of material having an enlarged tab formed at one end and a plurality of smaller tabs formed at the opposing end, fasteners secured to the inside and outside of the pocket and to the garment adjacent to the open top of the pocket, and means formed on each tab for 00- operatively engaging the fasteners to secure the tabs thereto, said enlarged tab being affixed by the means formed thereon to the fastener on the outside of the pocket and the smaller tabs being folded over the top of the pocket and selectively affixed by the means formed thereon to the fasteners on the garment and on the inside of the pocket.

3. In combination with the pocket of a garment, a detachable flap including a single piece of material having an enlarged tab formed at one end and a plurality of smaller tabs formed at the opposing end, fasteners secured to the inside and outside of the pocket and to the portion of the garment underlying the pocket, and means formed on each tab for cooperatively engaging the fasteners to secure the tabs thereto, said enlarged tab being detachably affixed by the means formed thereon to the fastener on the outside of the pocket and the smaller tabs beingfolded over the top of the pocket and selectively affixed by the means formed thereon to the fasteners on the garment and on the inside of the pocket.

4. In combination with the pocket of a garment, a detachable flap including a single piece of material having an enlarged tab formed at oneend, a pair of parallel tabs projecting from the opposing end and a center tab extending from said last end and disposed between the parallel tabs, fasteners secured to the inside and outside of the pocket and to the portion of the garment underlying the top of the pocket, and means formed on each tab for cooperatively engaging the fasteners to secure the tabs thereto, said enlarged tab being detachably affixed by the means formed thereon to the fastener on the outside of the pocket and the parallel tabs being folded over the top of the pocket and affixed by the means formed thereon to the fasteners on the garment with the center tab being affixed to the fastener on the inside of the pocket.

5. In combination with the pocket of a garment, a detachable flap including a single piece of material having an enlarged tab formed at one end, a pair of parallel tabs projecting from the opposing end and a center tab extending from said last end and disposed between the parallel tabs, fasteners secured to the inside and outside of the pocket and to the portion of the garment underlying the top of the pocket, and means formed on each tab for cooperatively engaging the fasteners to secure the tabs thereto, said enlarged tab being detachably affixed by the means formed thereon to the fastener on the outside of the pocket and the parallel tabs being detachably affixed by the means formed thereon and the fasteners to the inside of the pocket with the center tab being amxed to the portion of the garment underlying the pocket.

6. In combination with the pocket of a garment, a detachable flap including a single piece of material having an enlarged tab formed on one end and a plurality of smaller tabs formed on the opposing end, buttons secured to the inside of the pocket and to the portion of the garment underlying the pocket and a button secured to the outside of the pocket, and buttonholes formed in each tab for cooperatively engaging the buttons to secure the tabs to the garment and to the pocket with the enlarged tab being secured to the outside of the pocket and the smaller tabs being folded over the open top of the pocket and disposed interiorly of the pocket and selectively secured by the cooperative engagement of the buttonholes therein and the buttons to the garment and to the inside of the pocket.

ELSIE L. BERMAN. OSCAR A. BERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 258,4:46 Link May 23, 1882 623,460 Bishop Apr. 18, 1899 1,093,877 Nickerson Apr. 21, 1914 1,310,282 Clark July 15, 1919 50 1,343,371 Long June 15, 1920 1,362,916 Barber Dec. 21, 1920 1,507,396 Migalowitz Sept. 2, 1924 

